It's Short and Sweet For Marlins, Burkett / Giants lose 3rd in row to Florida

David Bush, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Thursday, July 20, 1995

Long games or short, bad pitching or good, the Giants just seem to find a way to lose.

After averaging nearly four hours of playing time during the first six games of the homestand, the Giants closed it out yesterday in a snappy 2 hours and 18 minutes. The pitching, which had been knocked silly the last two weeks, was fine.

What didn't change was the result. The Florida Marlins, riding a complete-game performance by former Giant John Burkett, completed a three-game Candlestick Park sweep with a 3-1 victory before 12,420.

The Giants are off to Houston having dropped three straight, seven of nine, 11 of 15, 18 of 26 and 25 of 40. To go back further, you will find a healthy Matt Williams still playing third base. You can believe it's a coincidence if you want.

Burkett (7-9), who won 22 games for the Giants two years ago, has won two against them this season. He went six shutout innings on April 30 at Candlestick in a 10-3 victory. He was even better yesterday -- four hits, one unearned run, one walk, nine strikeouts -- but so was his opposition. Mark Portugal (5-5) and Carlos Valdez gave the Giants the solid pitching that had been a missing ingredient lately, as their team ERA had climbed to a league-worst 4.91.

Portugal took the Giants into the eighth inning, giving up seven hits and two runs. Both of them were traceable to Greg Colbrunn, who had a pretty good week the last couple of days. After driving in seven runs with a pair of homers Tuesday night, Colbrunn knocked a pitch into the seats in the second inning, then doubled and later scored in the fourth.

"We are going to have to change the way we pitch him," said Giants manager Dusty Baker.

But if Portugal couldn't provide the Gi-

ants with a victory, he did give them something. "If nothing else, he took us deep into the game," said Baker, whose bullpen has been showing the signs of overuse. "Now we can go into Houston with everybody fresh. And he had been roughed up his last couple of starts. This was more like his first 10 or 11, which is what we need."

That didn't help Portugal's spirits. "We lost, I am not happy," he said. "We wanted to get out of here on a winning note, but we didn't."

Which brings us back to Burkett. "That is the best he's thrown all year," said Florida manager Rene Lachemann. "He joined us late (signing April 8) and didn't have much of a spring training. Then he hurt his leg, so he is just now getting to be 100 percent. But that is why we got him, to be the No. 1 guy."

He used to be the No. 1 guy somewhere else. "That was typical Burkett," said Baker. "Work fast, throw strikes. And I'm sure pitching against us gave him some motivation."

He wasn't exactly the same, according to Giants left fielder Barry Bonds, who went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. "His ball moves a lot," said Bonds. "It didn't move like that when he was here."

The Giants had some shots at Burkett, but they scored only when Steve Scarsone hustled around from second base on a sacrifice bunt.

"I saw nobody was covering third, so I just came around and down the line as far as I could and still be able to get back," he said. "All of sudden I was halfway to home plate. When I saw the first baseman (Colbrunn) lob the ball back to Burkett, I just took off."

Burkett's throw was late, and Scarsone scored. "I was thinking about the next hitter and didn't see him until it was too late," said Burkett.

That was one of the few things he or the Marlins did wrong yesterday.

"I was more nervous the first time I pitched against them here," Burkett said. "Today I was excited, rather than nervous. We hadn't had a (series) sweep all year, and that meant as much to me as anything."

Burkett, who had failed on a squeeze-bunt attempt in the seventh inning, drove in the final Marlins run with a soft grounder to short in the top of the ninth. "If he had hit that any harder, we would have had the out at the plate," said Baker. "But he hit a 20-hopper, and Royce (Clayton) had no play at the plate."